KARÉNIN. But I ask you, not so much in your wife's name as from myself.… Come home!
FÉDYA. You are a better man than I. (What nonsense! It is easy enough to be better than I) … I am a scoundrel, and you are a good—yes, a good man.… And that is the very reason why I won't alter my decision.… No! Not on that account either—but simply because I can't and won't.… How could I return?
KARÉNIN. Let us go to my rooms now, and I'll tell her that you will return to-morrow.
FÉDYA. And to-morrow, what?… I shall still be I, and she—she. [Goes to the table and drinks] It's best to have the tooth out at one go.… Didn't I say that if I broke my word she was to throw me over? Well, I have broken it, and that's the end of it.
KARÉNIN. For you, but not for her!
FÉDYA. It is extraordinary that you should take pains to prevent our marriage being broken up!
KARÉNIN [is about to speak, but Másha comes up] …
FÉDYA [interrupting him] Just hear her sing “The Flax”!… Másha!
The gipsies re-enter.
MÁSHA [whispers] An ovation, eh?